Greetings everyone! I just wanted to thank you all for taking the time to read this. Oh, and Merry Christmas!

-Seshat

Arty's POV

His head hurt. That was the first thought that Artemis had when he woke up in the chair. Mid-morning light made dappled patterns and lines across his vision. He noticed, suddenly, that he had fallen asleep in the parlor...in a chair? How had that happened? And then he remembered. The tea. The fairies. Kassia. ERGH! Kassia had done this to him. Taken away his fairy and his gold and left him with nothing after all that he had done to restore his family's fortune. How dare she!

He sat up abruptly, but immediately regretted it. He was still a bit dizzy. And so he waited.

He noticed a dainty china teacup sitting on the table next to him. He picked up the cup and smelled it. Just as he suspected. It was tainted with tranquilizer. It was completely tasteless, but it emitted a faintly floral odor. And it only existed in one lab in the world. His.

"You figured it out, then, did you Fowl?" someone said.

Artemis whirled around to see Kassia, sipping a cup of tea, sitting in the chair across from him. How had he not spotted her before? It did not matter. She was in his house. He was going to give her a piece of his mind, that was for sure...

Before he could utter a word, however, Kassia held up her hand.

"Let me explain, Fowl. First of all, I was able to salvage a portion of the ransom for you," she said. When he didn't respond, she frowned and said, "You're welcome. Anyway, Fowl, surely you realize the importance of-"

Artemis turned to her curtly, donning a glare that was chilling enough to silence her.

"Miss Kassia," he whispered ominously, "I understand the importance of peace to your people. If you'll recall, you spilled every secret of theirs during our conversation last evening. But I do not care. I am Artemis Fowl, the leader of a criminal empire. If I cared about your people in the slightest, or, in fact, any people other than myself, do you really think that any of this conflict would have begun in the first place? Self-preservation, mademoiselle. That was the purpose of this conquest. And because you have completely annihilated my plans, I must immediately regard you as an enemy. Now kindly leave the estate before Butler wakes."

Butler and Juliet had been comatose for the entire conversation. Now, Kassia looked nervously over at the two of them. Butler had, in fact begun to stir. Artemis grinned triumphantly at Kassia. He was back in control of the situation.

But the girl merely rolled her eyes and pulled out her wand. "I'll leave when I wish, Fowl. And, in response to your previous statement, I regard you as an enemy was well as a worthy opponent. It's been fun, really, but I ought to be going. Mind if I use your fireplace?"

Kas's POV

Kassia still hated the strange sensation of Floo Network transport. Even so, the out-of-body tingle was a relief compared to the grief that had begun to swallow her whole.

As soon as she stepped into her old cabin, she ran for her room. It was exactly the same as it had been last summer; books all throughout the room, large bay window. A thin layer of dust covered the room.

Kassia lay in her bed for quite a while. The setting sun was her only indication that any time had passed at all. She sobbed into her pillows, seeking comfort in the familiar scent and texture of the warm sheets. Her parents were gone...she'd never had a proper chance to say goodbye. Even though she had hated that her father was always gone, hated the formal parties that she was forced to go to, hated the snobby people that she'd had to schmooze, her parents were such wonderful people. And in a single flash of green light, they were gone.

Long after the sky had been streaked with pink and the moon had risen, Kassia's sobs subsided. Her breathing became even and deep. Now, she simply felt...tired. Her eyes drooped and soon, she fell into a fitful slumber. She replayed her parents death in her dreams over and over again, like a skipping stone, before she finally tossed the thought aside into the depths of her subconscious.

The next morning was, at the risk of sounding cliché, a blur. Although it had been two days since she had last eaten, she did not fell hungry in the slightest. On the contrary, she felt relieved, as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. And, she supposed, it had. All throughout her stay – or imprisonment, more like – at Fowl manor, she had been slightly preoccupied with her (foster) parent's deaths. With their murders.

But she had pushed the grief out of her mind. It was rare for her to lose control the way she had last night. She supposed that that was a part of coping with such grief. Now that that was done, she decided, she had to keep control.

To her surprise, she found all of her luggage (including her owl, Diablo) sitting in the living room. Trouble had probably dropped it off the night before, as she had left it in his pod. She let Diablo out of his cage before stepping outside.

Kassia spent part of the morning walking around the lake near her cabin, skipping stones against the water, enjoying the warmth of the early-summer sun. Her skin looked almost translucent in sun so bright. Until, of course, it burned. She shouldn't have been surprised; her skin was so ghostly pale, any sun exposure posed the risk of it burning. But she was still annoyed that she could no longer spend time in the sun.

She made her way into the woods instead. The woods here were dense, covering the soft-looking mountains in swathes of green silk.

The shade felt nice on her pink, sunburned skin. Barely any sunlight was able to penetrate the dense canopy of tree leaves above her head, and the light that did make it through was tainted a bright green. Kassia could think of few places that were this beautiful.

While walking along the banks of a rocky stream, Kassia heard a small noise. She stopped, nearly shushing the loud bubbling of the stream before realizing that it couldn't hear her. She stood very still and closed her eyes, concentrating on locating the noise once more. A few seconds later, she heard it again, closer then before, and definitely coming from her right. She darted away from the stream, carefully but quickly making her way over the treacherous forest floor. After hearing the noise once more (it sounded like a whimper), she found herself in a small clearing.

There, right in the middle of it, was a bundle a silvery fur. It whimpered once more before a head poked out of it...and a tail, and paws...a wolf pup! That was what Kassia had discovered. A wolf pup, all alone in the woods. Why...?

That was when Kassia got her answer. As she moved in closer, she saw the pup's paws. Huge gashes ran along two of its legs, blood spilling from various slices. But the wolf was beautiful. Its eyes were a dazzling silver-green, a beautiful combination that Kassia had never seen before. Its fur was silver, as she had seen before, but she had not seen the wonderful, intricate black patterns of fur that ran along the wolf's face.

Suddenly, it began barking and whining madly, growling, baring its teeth. Had she come too close?

"Okay, I'm sorry, it's okay, I'm leaving now..." she muttered over and over, but the wolf continued to bark louder ad louder. It occurred to Kassia that it was almost as if the wolf was warning her...

And that's when she saw the bobcat standing behind her. It bared its fangs as she turned around, growling so menacingly that the pup's shrill barks of terror were drowned out completely. Kassia immediately reached for her wand (thank goodness she had had enough sense to bring it) and pointed it at the bobcat.

"St-stupify!" she cried, hardly overcoming her shock and panic. The bobcat was thrown mercilessly against the tree behind it, and then lay still, save for slow, steady breathing.

"Thanks," she muttered to the pup, then caught herself as she realized that she was speaking to an animal.

The wolf just cocked its head at her curiously. It started to get up, but yelped as it put weight on its bloodied legs. It fell back into the tall grass.

Kassia smiled affectionately at the wolf, and it occurred to her that she had a first aid kit back at the cabin. Slowly, carefully, she picked her way over to the pup, whispering gently, muttering soothingly under her breath. Even as she wrapped her arms gently around it, it did not move. As she picked it up, Kassia realized that it was a girl. She curled up in Kassia's arms and fell asleep. Kassia stroked the wolf pup's fur gently and tromped back to her cabin.

"I'll call you Shard," Kassia whispered to the wolf pup cuddled in her arms as she walked through the door to her cabin.

Still Kas's POV...

After she had cleaned up Shard, Kassia set the puppy down on a stack of blankets in the living room.

"Now I want you to rest," Kassia insisted patting Shard on the head "That's the only way you can get better." She laughed as Shard tried to escape the nest of blankets with huge, white bandages all over her legs. "Oh, come on now, settle down," Kassia giggled as she settled Shard back down. As she was leaving the room, she heard the puppy's frantic whimpering and barking. She sighed and went back into the room, scooped up Shard, and settled onto the couch. Immediately, Shard curled up in Kassia's arms and fell asleep. Soon, Kassia found that the heavy, summery heat was getting to her as well, and she fell asleep with her wolf pup curled up in her arms.

She awoke to a huge hunger pang.

"Idiot," she chided herself as as she sat up. "How could you have forgotten to eat of all things?"

Shard had obviously been awake for a while. She was well-through one of the blankets that had once made up her nest.

Kassia sighed and tugged the blanket, laughing as Shard bit down on it and was dragged around the floor.

"Let go, Shard, you weirdo!" she giggled. Eventually, she gave in and let Shard have her blanket. Because she was just too adorable.

Kassia made her way into the kitchen grimacing against the aches in her stomach. Her parents had always kept plenty of non-perishable food here. She found cans of beans (eew) and peaches and strips of jerky, fruit preserves, cereals, and candies. She ripped up little bits of jerky for Shard and opened a can of peaches for herself. Just as she was finishing up her peaches, she heard a noise at the window.

She turned to find a tawny owl staring at her, pecking at the glass, and otherwise being insufferably impatient. Kassia made her way over to the window, opened it, and pulled out the letter in the bird's beak. It hooted indignantly and flew away.

The letter was from the Ministry. Kassia groaned inwardly. She was obviously in serious trouble for using magic outside of school on a Muggle. But hadn't she already taken care of that? She distinctly remembered having a word with a Ministry worker about her exemption to the "Now Magic Outside School" law. Dumbledore had been there. Perhaps this letter was about something else.

It was...and wasn't.

Miss Kassia;

It has come to our attention that at an unknown time or location, you performed the Petrificus Totalus charm not only in the presence of a Muggle, but on a Muggle, and will thus be tried at a disciplinary Ministry hearing on the date below.

In addition, your parents have recently passed away, and the Minister sends his condolences. As you are an underage witch, you must either be put in the care of a close family member or friend or be sent to live in a foster home. The Ministry understands that you must be going through a difficult time, and wishes to assist you in any way it can.

Best wishes,

Matilda Hopkirk

Secretary for the Minister of Magic

Kassia crumpled the letter in all its expensive-papered glory and threw it into the fireplace. Even though a fire was not lit, it hid the thingfrom her sight.

She stomped up to her room and pulled out a pen and paper – she refused to use quills, no matter how traditional they were. Cloaks and laptops and and uniforms were bearable; using a quill as opposed to a pen...not happening.

Dear Ms. Hopkirk,

I am afraid that there has been a misunderstanding on the Ministry's part as to my "punishment". You see, I am exempt from this "No Magic Outside School" law, and thus mustn't be punished. If you need confirmation, kindly ask Professor Dumbledore. In addition, the magic that was performed was merely in self-defense. The law clearly states that magic may be performed if the individual feels that their life or well-being is in danger. Perhaps you have forgotten about this particular loophole.

And I am perfectly capable of providing for myself, however, I do thank you for the offers of assistance.

Thanks again for your understanding.

Sincerely,

Kassia

Kassia sealed the letter violently and attached it to Diablo's leg. He hooted indignantly at her rough treatment, bit her thumb, and flew off into the setting sun.

Minutes later, another owl arrived. Kassia shook her head, confused. Who...

Kassia:

Hey there, it's Ron. I was wondering if you'd be interested in spending the rest of the summer at the Burrow (my house). Harry will probably be there, but Hermione is on vacation in Paris. She won't be back until right before term.

Hope you can come.

-Ron

Kassia shook her head in amusement at the blunt letter and quickly wrote up a response.

Ron,

Sounds like fun! Would you be able to come and get me though? I ran out of Floo powder while I was...well, I'll have to tell you about it when I see you. Oh, and how do you feel about dogs? Or wolves?

Thanks,

-Kas

She hastily folded up the letter and tied it to the leg of the owl that had brought Ron's letter. It had stayed, oddly enough; perhaps it had been told to wait for a response?

Soon, however, Kassia felt her eyes grow heavy again.

"What is wrong with me?" she thought to herself, "feeling tired all the time..."

She scooped up Shard and her almost-depleted blanket.

"Note to self," she thought tiredly as she retrieved her toothbrush from her trunk, "get Shard some chew toys."

She had nearly forgotten how beautiful the stars were here. She could pick out every constellation in the sky, and locate every star (including the one that she had discovered). She felt competently content as she sat at her bay window, Shard curled up in her lap, face pressed against the cool glass. Soon, curled up in the small space, gently jostling Shard. And this is how she fell asleep.

So I kind of put in lines at odd intervals...there were so many little "jumps" in time where I would normally put lines, but there would have been so many...

Anyway, Motomo, you are spectasticular (dare you to say that three times fast), thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews. And to every one of my amazing followers and favorite...ers, I can not thank you enough for the support! :)